In the Round of 32 of the Spain Masters in Barcelona, Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge have advanced after a relatively routine win against their Russian opponents.
The pair from England are fresh from the European Mixed Team Championships in Copenhagen and won in comfortable style in straight games (21-10, 21-16)
On to the next challenge
Ellis, speaking to Badminton Europe revealed that despite it was a comfortable result for him and Langridge, there are still things that they can work on for their next match.
- Overall it was a comfortable match but we still finished and had some things to take away and do better tomorrow, Marcus Ellis said.
- The pair we play tomorrow will provide new challenges that we have to overcome, he added.
The pair face Danish competition tomorrow in David Daugaard/Frederik Søgaard which could be a closer contest for Ellis and Langridge, given the performances of the Danes of late.
The pair do have ambitions of reaching the later stages of the tournament but they know that they have to be on their ‘A’ game if they want to achieve that target.
- We would love to progress to the late stages of the tournament and are looking to do so but we also know nothing is a given in sport, so we will take it one match at a time and see where it takes us! Ellis said.
Being the one under pressure
Speaking about lower ranked opponents Ellis knows that without a professional performance in a ‘winnable’ match, it could end up dangerous.
73 places are between both pairs in the world rankings but as the result tells the story, the English pair did not fall on a potential banana skin.
- Often when playing someone lower ranked than yourself can be dangerous for two reasons. Firstly, they have nothing to lose and are likely to play above their level.
- Secondly, the concentration required to see those games out is often challenging. It takes a very mature and focused approach to keep being clinical match after match, Ellis said.
Find the draw of the Barcelona Spain Masters 2019 here